Archive for May, 2010
Follow-up Post on Cannabis and Anxiety
I thought I would post an update to my prior blog on anxiety. I have been seeing a lot of success with patients using sativa or non psychoactive tinctures. The patients generally take a few drops in the AM and repeat after lunch. There has been no stony effects and patients find that they sleep much better at night.
Any similar experiences??
Why a Puff is Not a Puff
We often speak about taking one puff, or several puffs, as if we think we are truly measuring our medicine. Sure, there is some amount of measuring counting puffs, but here are some reasons, there are others, why puffs are not very accurate measures:
Depth of breath, type of cough, medicine strength in each nuggie, breath holding, combustion efficiency of the medication, temperature of the burn, etc etc
Why Doesn’t TSA Bother Passengers With Cannabis?
This past year there have been announcements from both Oakland and LA airports that they will not be bothering patients with cannabis.
Many of us travel with minor amounts of our medication and are never bothered – or “caught”. This past year or so, I have heard from many patients that they in fact were caught, but when they displayed their Medical Letter, they were just let through the gate. So, Why??
Can you imagine some patient with modest medication being caught and TSA causes a tumult about it? There would be such an uproar as some attention had to be taken away from watching for terrorists and bombs. If a terrorist were enabled by such a marijuana distraction, I believe the terrorists would use this knowledge.
They are really looking for bombs – not our medicine.
All Medicine Is Always Titrated For Each Patient
It seems to me that some people make disparaging remarks regarding cannabis due to the fact that all patients need to adjust their doses. This is true and also true of most other medications. In 1990 when Prozac was first released it was only in one dose of 20 mg. Lily insisted upon calls from myself and many others as to this perhaps being way too high of a starting dose for many patients. Anyway, it was years before another dose was released and many of my patients would mix their capsule in apple juice and take some percent daily. I.e. They had to adjust their dose.
That said, it is very difficult to adjust a dose if you don’t know what dose you are taking every time. A “hit” or a “bong rip” is never the same dose for anyone. Way too many variables. Edibles and even vaporizing do not allow typical medical titration. It is by using tinctures that we at least have a form of the medicine where titration can begin.